The New Way to See Paris: On A Bicycle

by Willy Volk on

Recently, Paris announced plans to make bicycles available to the city’s commuters, strollers, and tourists for free. Working with French outdoor advertising firm JCDecaux SA — which received access to more than 1600 publicity sites in exchange for providing the bikes — the City plans to have in excess of 14,000 bikes by this summer, and more than 20,000 by the end of 2007. To borrow a bike, users visit one of the 1400+ stations around the city, hand over a swipe-card, get a bike, and roll away. Bikes may be returned at any station.

This sounds like a great idea to lower pollution. However, I wonder if thousands of cycling tourists, confused by unfamiliar signage, disoriented by winding cobbled roads, and dazzled by the beautiful buildings surrounding them, will cause more headaches for Paris than it resolves.

My prediction? By the end of the year, every intersection currently manned by art vendors will have boys with tire tools and pumps showcasing their wares. I wonder if JCDecaux SA secured the rights to advertise for all the bike repairmen.

What do you think? Is this idea a magnifique way to pump up the city’s image, or is it stupide, certain to deflate?

Reykjavik 64°08N 21°54W

by Adrienne Wilson on

Reykjavik 64°08N 21°54W isn’t your typical travel guide, but it is a highly unique concept. The author of the guide, Ami Sioux (a Paris-based photographer) asked 50 people in Reykjavik to hand draw maps of a significant or important place of their choosing. She later takes to the roads and Icelandic wilderness or where ever the maps may lead her and photographs the area. With her photos and the nifty hand-drawn maps combined she pieces together an awesome book for the coffee table. In addition to Iceland, Ami had the opportunity to mingle with Berlin natives, Paris, London, and New York natives as well to create media for each city using their interpretive maps and her travel treasure hunt shots. As of the moment Reykjavik 64°08N 21°54W is not available in the U.S., but those burning to find their way to an Icelandic thermal pool or somebody’s back yard through the book can click here for more purchase info.

I must say I wish I had come up with the idea myself.

via Cool Hunting

Photo of the Day (12/20/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on


Still searching for the perfect stocking stuffer for your loved one? Well, if you’re in Paris for the holidays you might want to check in with this dude selling many mini Eiffel Tower. He seems to have several and no real-takers. Maybe he’s just getting started with his business day. Taken by localsurfer in Paris with some type of Lomo cam (Holga?), I’d say he did a good job capturing the guy’s boredom or lack of interest while on the job.

Want to see your photo on Gadling? Be sure to submit your favorite travel shots to our Gadling Flickr pool.

Being Cold Is, Well, Cool

by Iva Skoch on

The NY Times had a couple of suggestions for getting cold this winter: Being Cold is the Hot Trend this Winter. The first suggestion was the ice bar newly installed at the Four Seasons in Paris (and not yet on their web site).

I’ve been to London’s Absolut Ice Bar, which is actually kind of fun. It’s been open a year now, and the gimmick is this: you pay an entrance fee and get a parka to wear and enter the small bar. You’re supposedly allowed in for only 40 minutes or so, but the rules are lax. Anyway, the entire bar, tables, and portions of the walls are made of blocks of ice. It’s dark but has colorfully lit surfaces, taking advantage of the transparency of the ice. You’ve got a choice of various drinks–all made with Absolut Vodka, of course–poured into squarish “glasses” which are also blocks of ice. And, yes, there’s one in Stockholm, too. And that one’s linked to the management of the igloo Ice Hotel in Sweden (see Erik’s post about it here).

Another NYT suggestion was the CryoTherapy Center in Slovakia, where you’re stripped down and get chilled from room temperature to below zero in one chamber, then enter a chamber that’s chilled to -184 degrees F, colder than the lowest recorded temperature on earth. Then, if that’s not torture enough, you head to the gym for a workout.

Dumping the Trash in Paris…

by Adrienne Wilson on

Whenever I’ve been abroad I’ve always liked to watch what the locals were doing, their trends and how they went about their workdays. It always seemed to me as if the Spanish retail girl in Barcelona carried on with her work much differently than the ones I’d seen in Miami, Los Angeles or even St. Louis. It always felt as though as a whole the people were working to pay off different things or like everyone was saving for a big two-year backpacking excursion somewhere. Totally unrealistic, right, but I’m sure there is some truth in the statement. I mean, I bet they aren’t paying back hordes of credit card debit or Sallie Mae student loans. Let me not focus on retail alone though, I feel this way about many professions abroad. People just seem to carry on so differently and really where I’m trying to go with my musings is to this NPR piece on dumping the trash in Paris.

To be more precise, the unemployment rate is higher than normal and with a garbage collector’s position, citizens can receive security, full benefits, a pension and a relatively nice paycheck from the government job. There are so many people applying now that the city has even instituted a written-exam. So I guess anyone dreaming of moving to Paris without a plan or without any real knowledge of what the employment trends may be, might want to take a listen to the piece. Sure – Paris is glamorous and all, but there is something about working with the public’s trash that doesn’t thrill me so much.